The present disclosure relates to an applicator that can be used to apply adhesive or other fluids along a surface in a plurality of beads. There are a number of circumstances where an apparatus for concurrently applying a plurality of beads of a substance can be advantageously employed. For example, the construction of roofs for commercial and industrial buildings, typically, involves, as a first step, installing a corrugated steel decking having alternating peaks, or ribs, and valleys, or flutes. Thereafter, one or more layers of an insulating material are placed over the decking. Finally, one or more layers of a waterproof covering are placed over the insulating material. Conventionally, adhesives are used to secure the steel decking and the various layers of roofing materials together to form a, more-or-less, unitary covering for the roof. Such roofs, usually, are quite large, encompassing many square feet and, in some instances, the roofs cover several acres. Taking into account the sizes of the roofs that can be involved and the fact that several layers of roofing materials are typically applied, it is highly desirable that an apparatus be available that can rapidly apply large volumes of the adhesive to a relatively wide section of a roof in a single pass of the apparatus over the roofing materials. Thus, it can be desirable to have an applicator that simultaneously applies multiple, spaced apart, beads of adhesive along the roof in a single pass.
In some examples, it may be advantageous to have an applicator that applies a two-part adhesive formed by mixing two-adhesive reactants. Moreover, it may be advantageous to apply the two-part adhesive as a certain number of beads (e.g., four) in a single pass. In other applications, however, it may desirable to apply a one part adhesive. In addition or alternatively, it may desirable to change the number of beads simultaneously applied by the applicator. Thus, it is desirable to have an applicator that can be easily adapted to accommodate various applications.